Advertisement - scroll for more content
Apparently, Cuban was already in deep discussions with then-Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss about a potential blockbuster deal: “I was going back and forth with Dr. Buss, and I forgot who called who, I think he called me, actually, and said, ‘Look, we think we might be parting ways with Kobe,’” Cuban said. As it turns out, however, the deal “all fall apart” when Cuban told a Lakers PR guy named Elvis about it. Word quickly spread and Cuban believes Mitch Kupchak ended up convincing Kobe to stay in LA.
Most dudes wouldn't be too happy to leave South Beach ... but Justise Winslow tells TMZ Sports that ain't the case -- saying he's elated to join the Memphis Grizzlies!!! Of course, Winslow played his whole career with the Heat before getting shipped off to Elvis' old stomping grounds as part of the Andre Iguodala deal. We spoke with the 23-year-old over the weekend about the move ... and he's stoked for the fresh start. "It's great!," JW tells us. "I love it here! Everybody's been very receiving and excited for me, so I just continue to try and get healthy and make an impact."
Williams -- who now plays overseas -- was at Louisville from '05-'09 and tells TMZ Sports he's furious his name was mentioned in the book "Breaking Cardinal Rules." The book alleges Terrence ... then a star for the Cardinals ... paid $500 dollars for a sexual escapade with two women -- an assertion which Williams AGGRESSIVELY denies. "I am not a part of that. To Louisville I am f**king Elvis Presley. So why would I pay anybody for anything?" "Motherf**kers pay me for pictures and handshakes. And that's not being cocky, 'cause I don't play around with my blessing. I'm very honored to be in that position in Louisville. Louisville is the greatest city, the fans are great, Rick Pitino is great."
Me: Did you ever speak with the guys who decided not to play in '68 and supported Harry Edwards' boycott, like Kareem and Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes? Spencer Haywood: I talked to them, but they don't see it like that. They don't even like to even discuss it. Kareem says, well, even back then, he said, 'I was just going to help some kids up in Harlem. I didn't really boycott.' And I take him at his word. I said 'Okay, big dog.' But I know it's a boycott. So history, you know, history has its way of weaving through. And I also thanked them, too. Because if they had came to the '68 Olympics, they would never have looked at a freshman to try out and be a member of the Olympic team. As Elvis would say, thank you, thank you very much.
Advertisement
Rachel Nichols: Sitting down w/the #Lakers Swaggy P. Says he's wearing this shirt bc Elvis will be in the building for tonight's game http://instagram.com/p/y7trbayZ1h/
Danny Schayes: • Athletes, like entertainers, have the biggest disconnect between how much they earn and what they know about money and finance. They are paid like CEOs of billion dollar companies without having a clue about money. • They are trained from childhood to be coached and managed. They grow up being surrounded by folks telling them what to do and where to go. Their world is sports, and it is consuming mentally and physically, leaving room for little else. • Once in the pros they are represented by agents who tell them “just play, I’ll take care of everything else”! They have financial dealings with dozens of people who’s job it is to separate them from their money. Like Elvis, they become surrounded by “friends” and advisors who have no incentive to help them become educated.
In addition to getting information out of Muse — who was later discovered to be involved in at least one other hijacking — there also were some lighter moments, including introducing the Somali pirate to American culture, on the trip back to Stuart Air Force Base. “A lot of people said that they didn’t understand why he was smiling [when he got off the plane],” Galloway said, laughing. “Well, I was telling him on the plane ride over that he’s going to be bigger than Elvis. He had no idea who Elvis was, so I showed him a picture … but when he stepped out of the truck, he saw about 300 news media people waiting for him and lit up.”
The best part is that they know Popovich in a way that select few others do, as Popo. They remember the rugged 6-4 guard/forward who captained the Falcons for coach Bob Spear and co-led them in scoring his senior year and usually guarded the opposing team’s best offensive player. They also remember the Popo who loved Elvis, majored in Russian studies and spoke that language fluently. While going through intelligence training, he apparently envisioned himself as a real-life James Bond. “When he went to his Air Force spy school, he drove his Corvette and wore a $300 suit to his first assignment,” Kreimborg said. “He walked into the office, and they said, ‘You need to go to Sears to buy a suit, and you’d probably be better off driving a Corvair.’”
O.J. Mayo tried to claim that his first trip to Memphis as a Grizzlies foe was “just another game on the schedule.” Yeah, right, and Elvis Presley was just another singer. Mayo couldn’t keep the clichés coming. It didn’t take much to get him to admit that he had some major additional motivational fodder for his Memphis return. “Going back to a former team that you had some mishaps between the two parties, that’s the way it goes,” Mayo said. “You obviously want to go back and kick their butts. They want to kick your butt to show that you’re not needed, whatever the case may be.”
Advertisement
"I made a number of mistakes in Memphis," West wrote in his memoir, "West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life." The book lands in stores today. In it, he devoted a chapter to life in the Bluff City, titled "Rebirth and the Difficulty of Becoming Elvis." Although West enjoyed Elvis-like status during his stay -- police once stopped traffic to allow him to cross Union Avenue -- he says "unsettling things happened too." West became the object of at least two stalkers, which forced him to hire a security guard. "One woman even went so far as to buy a wedding dress for the happy life she envisioned we would have together," West wrote.
The Grizzlies went up by 18 and then fell behind by 10. They had a lead they couldn’t possibly relinquish and then faced a deficit they couldn’t possibly make up. So they did both. Naturally. And then things really went nuts. “The only thing I was waiting for was for Elvis to rise out of center court,” said Shane Battier. “Even that, I don’t think it would have surprised me at this point.”
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement